"Fluent solid material" is used herein as a generic term to include pulverulent or granular material which is capable of flowing freely, either in an unassisted gravity system or in aerated or liquid slurry form.
There are a number of industrial applications in which it is very desirable to have a simple and reliable transducer which is capable of measuring the rate of flow of fluid solid material through a duct and feeding a flow rate signal to a control or recording device. One such industrial application is in systems for handling pulverulent material, such as fly ash, which has been collected in a hopper. Applicant's above-referenced copending U.S. patent application, which contains the same drawings and detailed description as the present application, claims such a system.
Patents known to applicant and his attorney which are most pertinent to the present system include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,561,763; 2,677,385; 3,232,486; and 3,557,616.